Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Rhett
“Ineed to talk to my brother,” I say. I can’t look at her, but especially not at what I did to her.
She’s covered in bites, like she’s been savaged by a fucking animal marking its turf.
My cum is on her and in her. And yeah, that shit makes me all kinds of satisfied.
Just like her marks on me, the achy feeling and faint soreness act as a reminder of her putting them there.
Only this is bad. Really fucking bad. Lucian’s caution aside, what I’ve done is wrong. I should have stayed in control. The scale of this disaster looms on the horizon like a storm cloud waiting to unleash a deluge.
She’s watching me, but I look away, unable to face her censure. I throw on some sweatpants, snatch a T-shirt off the floor, and without a backward glance, get the fuck out of there. My cell is lying on the coffee table, along with a fresh tray of covered food.
I need to feed her. She’s got to be hungry.
Memories surface of me feeding her from my fingers during her heat, her tongue lapping sensually, all sweet, contented pet.
Yeah, not a chance I can feed her and not fuck her again.
I call Lucian.
He answers on the second ring. “Welcome back,” he says, dryly. “I’m assuming you’ve come out the other end unscathed.”
“Not exactly,” I say bluntly. “We need to talk.”
“Fucking hell,” he roars. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Yeah, no can do on that one. The silence stretches. I can hear Larissa moving around in the other room. I’m fucking sweating. Her scent is all over me. I should take a shower, get it off me, and see if I can undo this shit.
Undo it?
Not a fucking chance. Being one room away from her is wreaking havoc with my brain. The need to touch her, to keep her close, feed and care for her. A compulsion so strong I sway a little on my feet.
“I’m coming up,” he growls into the cell.
“No,” I bark out, nostrils flared, ready to kill my own brother if he tries to set foot in here. “You’re not coming anywhere near her.”
“You’re pulling this aggressive shit with me? Really?”
“Like you were any different with Madelyn?”
That must hit a spot because all I get is cursing for a good long while.
He blows out a breath. “Fine. In my club office, now.”
With a last lingering look in the direction of the bedroom, I head for the elevator.
He’s already waiting when my elevator opens onto his club office.
“I should shoot your motherfucking brains out,” he snarls before the elevator doors have even managed to close behind me. “What part of don’t bond her did you not understand?”
I’m already suffering enough self-recriminations; now all that rage redirects to Lucian.
“You dumped an unmated omega in heat in my room! I’ve never been a soldier, nor a controller like you were—I’ve never even been with an omega!
What the fuck did you think would happen?
You weren’t exactly the paragon of rationality when you claimed Madelyn.
How can you even give me shit for this? As for Ethan, every dime in the motherfucker’s account will be transferred to a gecko sanctuary if he gives me any shit. ”
We stand glaring at one another. My chest is heaving, and my hands are curled into fists.
Lucian raises a brow. He can be volatile and aggressive—my bullshit probably gives him high blood pressure every day—but he also deals with Chimera’s elite and their brand of veiled fuckery, so he can also be pragmatic and unerringly calm.
His lips suddenly twitch, and his eyes slide down me. “You have more money than god stashed away in that fake gecko sanctuary. Maybe consider not dressing like you’re homeless, for the sake of your mate.”
I glance down at myself, seeing my favorite T-shirt with a gecko making a lewd gesture, my sweatpants, and no shoes. He has a point… also crazy just kicked off inside when he called her my mate. It’s a battle to keep a stupid grin in check.
“This is a fuck-up of epic proportions,” he says. “Sasquatch is going to bust a blood vessel. He wanted me to hold her as leverage against the government. Whatever happened between him and Larissa wasn’t good. His haunted look when he brought her in suggests some dark shit went down.”
Nope, not liking the sound of that, warning bells are going off. “You mean how he got her out? Why would that make him look haunted?”
He ignores my question to ask his own. “I assume she was okay with this bonding?”
Fine, I’ll park Ethan, but you can bet I’ll be doing some fucking digging.
Also, I’ve no idea if she is okay with the bonding, but I strongly suspect she is not.
And that crushes every drop of joy in me.
Lucian and I need to talk shit out, so I should go ahead and sit down, but sitting down takes me further away from the elevator and her. “I don’t know.”
He scowls at me. “What the fuck? How can you not know?”
My eyes slide to the elevator. Anxiety crawls up my throat as I consider how many floors are between us.
Is she eating some of the food? Drinking more water?
The claiming mark on her throat was pretty savage.
I should have stayed and dressed it for her…
“It’s not like we had an in-depth conversation about our respective pedigrees.
” I gesture toward myself and my less-than-polished facade.
“She doesn’t know about me and my problem.
Doesn’t realize what she’s bonded to. When she does—”
“Bullshit.” A tic thumps in his jaw. “Ninety percent of the time, I want to strangle your ass. You snoop into shit you shouldn’t, work on important shit in your own sweet time, bribe and blackmail everyone, including me.
You have questionable moral standards—and I’m a fucking criminal, so that’s saying something.
But I fucking love you. You’re my brother.
It was us against the system for a long fucking time.
Ten years ago, some motherfucker in the government made a decision that nearly killed you.
You were in a coma for months! If she hates you for what happened, she’s a bitch, and I’ll toss her goddamned ass out myself. ”
I growl. My hand is wrapped around his throat before I even realize my intentions, and I’ve slammed him against the nearby wall.
He holds up his hands.
My body is coiled tight with aggression. My brain is like a pinball machine, lighting up so many sectors in quick succession that I can’t keep pace. “Don’t insult her, Lucian. Not ever.”
“Message received.” He carefully peels my fingers from around his throat. “I need a drink for this. Want one?”
I step back. “Yeah.”
Lucian heads over to grab two beers from the refrigerator, returns, and shoves one into my hand. He prefers whiskey… but I guess this is early. His office’s window faces the club. The strip lights are on as the clean-up crews are busy at work.
He drops down into one of the couches.
My eyes go to the elevator door. She’s in the same building, a few minutes away. Why the fuck do I feel so anxious? With a last lingering look at the elevator, I stalk over to sit down opposite.
“You’ve crossed the line, mated her when you definitely shouldn’t.
But it’s done,” Lucian says. “We’ll deal with it, together.
But I swear to fucking god, you need to get your head out of your ass.
Self-pity never suited you. You’ve got a mate now—time to up your game.
Going outside is overrated anyway. And it’s not your fault that you can’t.
We’ve all got issues, some are bigger than others, some are harder to work around than others. ”
“I need to tell her.” I thought I was in love once.
A long time ago now. I can still remember her laughing when I told her about my phobia.
She thought I was joking. Then she realized I wasn’t, and shit got awkward real quick.
I didn’t have money back then. Lucian was conscripted, and I was living in a dump on the little money he made.
Alpha soldiers aren’t supposed to have grown-ass dependents who can’t get a job for themselves, and they certainly don’t get paid like they do.
“She’s not Lara,” Lucian says bluntly. “And something tells me she has her own demons to deal with. Tell her. Do it sooner rather than later. Deal with how she reacts. Whatever that is, I’ll back you.” He shrugs and smirks. “And if we need to hide a body, you know I’ve got you covered.”
I growl. “You have a sick sense of humor.”
Larissa
He’s gone. The oppressive sensation of being alone hits me like a blow. The simple act of breathing becomes a challenge. It’s like somebody’s ripping a chunk out of me.
It hurts. God, how can it hurt so much?
I stumble to my feet and pad into the lounge. A faint tendril of his scent lingers. It leads straight to the elevator doors.
I’m completely naked, covered in crusted cum; I’m filthy. But I don’t even hesitate to stab the call button. It doesn’t light up, which is when I notice the fingerprint recognition plate above it.
I bang on the elevator doors before glancing around the room as if there are going to be hidden cameras. Nothing obvious.
“Rhett!”
No answer comes. My legs give out. I drop to my knees.
God, where has he gone? What if he doesn’t come back? What if Ethan turns up, or somebody from the government, and takes me away?
Long minutes pass. The elevator remains shut. No soldiers arrive to drag me away. Nor a hate-filled Ethan Black.
Rhett doesn’t come either.
My knees are starting to ache. My stomach rumbles. I push myself up. I’ve felt worse, haven’t I? This is nothing. So what if it feels like somebody scooped a hole out of my chest? He will come back. We’re bonded now.
Only something’s wrong. Terribly wrong. I hear his words. “You just bonded yourself to the biggest loser in the universe.”
He doesn’t live like one. Not here. This place is staggering in its wealth. Maybe it’s Lucian’s. Maybe he’s just staying here. Maybe he’s done something terrible once, a crime, maybe. One so heinous it does not bear consideration.